Last month over 80 activists from Europe and across the world came together for a two day conference in the Netherlands with one shared goal: to change the way tax works.

Lynsey Burrows from Northern Ireland travelled to Amsterdam along with fellow volunteer campaigner Grace De Bláca and Oxfam Ireland's Campaigns and Public Outreach Executive Mary Quinn. They joined the group working to tackle issues like tax dodging which robs countries of vital funds needed for essential services like health and education.

Lynsey shares her thoughts on the difficulty of communicating such an important but complex issue:

In March, I was extremely excited to be able to attend the Tax Justice Together conference in Amsterdam with Oxfam Ireland. The tax justice movement is one of the largest social justice movements of the past few years and it is gaining momentum all the time. The conference was an opportunity for activists from all around the world to meet and discuss how best we can continue to work together to campaign for change to the global tax system.

Within hours of arriving at the conference it became clear that there was one common problem we all faced when campaigning on tax justice in our communities: tax justice sounds boring. Unless you work in the financial industry or are a ‘tax justice nerd’ (the sort who is extremely excited to attend tax justice conferences...) anything to do with tax sounds dreary, dull and complicated.

And it can be all of those things. Phrases like ‘tax treaties’, ‘capital gains’ and ‘bilateral investments’ are not the most easy to relate to when trying to talk to people about why tax matters. But there was also a very clear and urgent issue that any Oxfam supporter can relate to:

Tax injustice sustains poverty – as long as there is an unfair tax system, there will be poverty.

Without any jargon or financial knowledge needed, we can all understand that anything that maintains poverty or makes it worse is something we need to fight against.

Developing countries are losing billions every year because of tax injustice. Tax injustice has many aspects to it and I am going to focus on just one of those. One of the main culprits is multinational companies avoiding paying tax – tax dodging. They do this through schemes such as tax treaties. Put very simply (because I don’t want to bore you but mainly because I’m not an expert either) tax treaties are an agreement between two countries to avoid paying double tax.

So, if one multinational company (let’s call them WeLoveMoney) is registered in two countries that have a tax treaty, they will only have to pay tax in one of those counties. WeLoveMoney operates and makes an awful lot of money (which they love, hence the name) in one of those countries, the country that is developed and wealthy. But they are also registered in the developing country, where they don’t make much money but source or create their product. Can you guess which country they choose to pay their taxes in?

So because of perfectly legal loopholes, WeLoveMoney pays a very small amount of tax in the developing country where it is also generating profit and that country's government does not get its fair share of tax - money that is needed to help pay for healthcare, education and essential public services. Without the money they’re rightfully owed, poverty continues.

The rights and welfare of the some of the poorest people in the world are being harmed by the current global tax system. So if you hear me and other activists talking about tax, we’re really talking about poverty, about injustice and about inequality.

And that’s not boring.

#MakeTaxFair

We've got four very special guests coming to Ireland next week - tax campaigners from Malawi, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia. These activists work tirelessly to change the policies and structures that allow rich individuals and multinational companies to avoid paying the tax they owe. You can meet them in person in Dublin and Belfast (details below).- Dublin (April 16): http://bit.ly/1USs2Me- Belfast (April 19): http://bit.ly/23u29DX

#MakeTaxFair tour with Tax Justice Together: We've got four very special guests coming to Ireland this April - tax campaigners from Malawi, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia. These activists work tirelessly to change the policies and structures that allow rich individuals and multinational companies to avoid paying the tax they owe. You can meet them in person in Dublin (April 16) and Belfast(April 19).

Why tax matters?

The impact of an unfair tax system should not be measured in numbers and facts – but in its shocking human impact.

When countries don't receive the money they are owed in tax, people suffer. Children can't go to school, parents work hard but it doesn't pay so their families still go to bed hungry at night, communities living in poverty don't have a say in the decisions that affect them. Inequality grows and poverty is made worse.

Clockwise from left: 1. Munni stands beside an open drain in Horijon Polli, the slum where she lives with her family. 2. Munni at work – despite working hard every day, Munni dreams of work that really pays. 3. Munni cooks breakfast with her two-year old son. Photos: Adrian Lloyd/Oxfam

Munni Basfur lives with her husband and four children in one room in Horijon Polli, a densely-populated slum in Bangladesh that is home to approximately 6,000 people. Oxfam is working with partners there to improve public health facilities, rebuilding toilets and sanitation systems as well as building new bathing blocks.

For people like Munni, the effects of inequality are felt on a daily basis. Munni works incredibly hard every day to make ends meet – as a cleaner in a company and then again in a local government office.

And yet still she dreams of job security: “I call my job a “one/two job”. One: today I have it. Two: tomorrow I don’t.”

Above: With your support, we can invest in more life-changing programmes for women like Irene. Once a struggling farm labourer, she has joined a group of women to set up a successful banana farming enterprise supported by Oxfam. Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam

If you are born a girl, you’re more likely to be living in poverty, be worst affected when emergency strikes and have fewer resources, rights and opportunities than men.

That is why our programmes support women to claim their rights and make decisions that affect their lives. We also work with communities to break down the long-held prejudices behind domestic violence, e.g. through the ‘We Can’ campaign in Tanzania which has seen over 350,000 men and women pledge to end domestic violence in their communities.

We also address the lack of education and opportunities with loans, seeds, tools, better farming techniques and business training, helping thousands of women in countries like Rwanda to grow more food, set up businesses and make goods that they can market themselves.

This International Women’s Day (Tuesday, March 8th), join Oxfam in celebrating women everywhere.

Ending poverty starts with women – because their strength, resilience, tenacity and vision are the key to creating lasting change in their communities. For example, if women were given equal access to agricultural resources they could grow enough extra food to feed more than 100 million of the world’s hungriest people.

Yet every day, women’s efforts to escape poverty are blocked by discrimination and inequality. Women routinely face violence, abuse and unequal treatment at home, at work and in their wider communities.

That’s why we need your help to continue to give girls and women greater opportunities so that they can shape their own futures. By supporting our work worldwide, you will enable us to continue to help women and girls fight discrimination and overcome poverty.

IRENE’S STORY

By helping a woman through Oxfam, you help her immediate family and her community, generation after generation.

Irene Muzukira (42), once a struggling farm labourer in Zambia, has turned her life around. An Oxfam training programme gave her and other members of the Kabwadu Women’s Farming Group a life-changing opportunity to grow their own bananas.

Investment in a hydro-powered pump, solar-powered fencing and training means that their banana plantation is thriving in this hot climate.

The days when Irene and her two children went to sleep hungry are gone and, unlike Irene’s own parents, she can invest in their education. And the project’s success is felt in the wider community; 80 women and their families reap the benefits of this fruitful initiative.

“I feel it’s changing my life,” Irene says. “But I am mindful of others who don’t have what they need. I think change is possible but we need to invest in our children.”

Female heroes like Irene are working tirelessly every day to care for their families and improve their communities.

Please support them to change their world by lifting them out of extreme poverty.

From bake sales and ‘zumba-thons’ to 50km hikes, people all over Ireland – north and south - generously give their time and talent to fundraise for Oxfam Ireland.

Why not join them? Here’s our guide to fundraising to help you get started.

1. Why take part in a fundraising event?

Oxfam is a global movement of people who won’t live with the injustice of poverty. We believe it’s possible to live together in a fairer world. One in which everyone has enough food to eat, easy access to clean water and can provide for their families. One in which people are safer and better able to recover from crises and disasters and can influence the decisions that affect their lives, exercising their rights as full citizens of the world.

By fundraising for Oxfam Ireland, you are joining that movement, becoming the local link in a global network of people building a brighter future now. Your vital support will save lives in emergencies, help people build better lives through our long-term development projects and transform communities through our campaigns for lasting change.

Taking part in a sponsored challenge or organising your own fundraising event is easy and anything goes – walk, run, cycle, hike, climb, make music, make cakes or make coffee – just enjoy getting together!

Remember to choose something you’ll enjoy, and that will be popular with others! It is also worth bearing in mind that simple raffles at one-off events usually don’t require a licence, however, if you are selling tickets in advance of the event you may need one so it’s best to check at your local Garda or police station.

If you've any questions or need any support in your efforts, please get in touch here.

3. Organising or registering for the event

If organising your own event make sure you allow enough time to prepare before setting the date. Making a checklist of everything you need to pull off the event, including people to help, is a good way of ensuring you don’t miss anything and that everything gets done!

If taking part in an established event, such as the One World Run in Belfast, the Dublin Marathon or the VHI Ladies Mini Marathon, make sure to register for the event in advance, you will find links to do so on our upcoming events page.

Once you have organised or registered for your event, the next step is to create an online fundraising page so people can donate easily online. Your page can be personalised so you can tell people exactly what you are doing and why! Friends and family can easily share the page to their social media networks and by email to help you raise awareness of your event. We can also send you sponsorship forms if you would like to raise funds offline as well.

Get sharing! Ask friends, family, colleagues and even acquaintances to pass on news about your fundraising and share your online fundraising page - word of mouth is a powerful tool (especially with the help of online social networks such as Facebook and Twitter!).

Get in touch – let us know what your fundraising plans are and we’ll help you in whatever way we can with additional fundraising resources! We can provide you with a complete fundraising pack that includes posters, t-shirt(s) and other materials to help you build awareness for your event.

Take lots of pictures or ask your family or friends to take photos of you. If you send them to us we may be able to help you promote the event.

Just before the event, why not send a quick reminder text that may help raise last minute funds!

5. Have fun!

Whatever you decide to do to raise vital funds for us, we hope you have lots of fun!

6. Lodging your money

If you have decided to fundraise offline as well as online, there are several ways you can lodge the funds. You can lodge the funds raised to your bank account and then make a transaction:

Online - add donations to your online fundraising page so as offline funds are included in your total and count towards your goal or you can simply make a single donation on our website.

By phone - Call +353 (0) 1 672 7662 to get through to our Dublin office or you can call +44 (0) 28 9023 0220 to get through to our Belfast office.

As voters in the Republic of Ireland prepare to go to the polls on Friday February 26th, a new survey by Oxfam Ireland has found that 8 out of 10 (81%) people want politicians to make inequality a key issue in the general election.

82% agree that the next Taoiseach should prioritise tackling inequality in the new programme for government, specifically addressing tax dodging, equal pay and access to healthcare.

This widespread opinion stems from the broader concern that Ireland is becoming a more unequal place – the survey revealed almost 8 out 10 (79%) of Irish people believe the gap between the richest and the rest of society is widening.

The Empathy Research nationwide survey was launched today at the Make Equality #1 pre-election event hosted by Oxfam Ireland and the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) and was chaired by economist David McWilliams with general election candidates Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fáil), Carol Hunt (Independent Alliance), John Lyons (Labour), Eoin Ó Broin (Sinn Féin) and Bríd Smith (Anti-Austerity Alliance–People Before Profit) debating economic and gender inequality.

Oxfam Ireland Chief Executive Jim Clarken says: “This survey confirms that rising inequality is clearly at the forefront of Irish people’s minds as they prepare to go the polls. We live in a world where the richest 1% own more wealth than everyone else put together. Ordinary working families are up against odds that are impossible to beat and poorer people are paying the biggest price for rapidly increasing inequality.

“Every day Oxfam works to close the inequality gap from the bottom up by helping people to lift themselves out of poverty. Today, along with the people of Ireland, we demand more action in closing the gap from the top down too, tackling a toxic tax system, ensuring quality services for all and closing the gender pay gap.

“Inequality is not inevitable – it is the result of policy choices. The upcoming general election offers an important opportunity to shape a recovery that includes everyone.”

Director of National Women’s Council of Ireland Orla O'Connor says: “NWCI are calling on the next Government to prioritise equality budgeting and serious investment in public services. Tackling violence against women, delivery of quality health and maternity services, and providing a universal pension are all essential for women’s equality and all dependent on the resources being invested. There is a real danger that parties which focus on short-term tax cuts will not be in a position to deliver that investment.

“Equal pay is a major concern highlighted in the survey and in Ireland the gender pay gap has actually risen. A majority of those on low pay or insecure part-time contracts are women with 50% now earning €20,000 or less. This negative spiral must be halted and reversed. Whichever parties form the next Government they must legislate against precarious work, support a living wage and attach strong employment, equality and environmental standards to public spending while also promoting gender balance in senior roles.”

84% of Irish adults believe that women in Ireland being paid over 14% less than men is unfair – with women stronger in this belief than men (92% vs. 74%).

The NWCI is calling for an end to the gender pay gap to be named as a goal within the new programme for government.

The survey also shows growing concern about large-scale tax dodging with more than 8 out of 10 (86%) of Irish people believing that big companies and wealthy individuals are using tax loopholes to dodge paying their fair share of taxes. 83% agreed that tax dodging means vital public services like schools and hospitals in Ireland and across the world are suffering.

GOAT COUPLE:

Celebrate your togetherness with the dynamic duo that is our Goat Couple. Now half price online, pick up this pair and help change the lives of people in extreme poverty who rely on animals like goats to provide for their families.

HONEYBEES:

For that someone sweet in your life, give the gift of Honeybees and you could help rural farmers to learn about the latest beekeeping methods and build brighter futures by harvesting more honey from their hives.

CHOCOLATE:

There is no better way to show you care than with calorie-free Chocolate – a gift that’s free of guilt and full of potential for farmers everywhere, especially cocoa farmers.

All three of these gifts raise vital funds for our Livelihoods programme that helps make possible a whole range of life-changing livelihoods projects. Whether that’s increasing agricultural production, safeguarding animal health and well-being, or providing small-scale farmers and other producers with access to more opportunities, we promise to maximise your generosity by helping poor families to thrive.

Unwrapped gift cards are available at your local Oxfam shop and online as a printed card or eCard.*